The AC-130J is about to become even more deadly.
The AC-130J Gunship's First Solid State Laser Weapon Has Arrived For Testing
The U.S. Air Force has taken delivery of the first prototype Airborne High Energy Laser, or AHEL, which is set to be flight tested on one of its AC-130J Ghostrider gunships next year. The service hopes to demonstrate the feasibility of adding this directed-energy weapon to the AC-130J's already very diverse arsenal, which could give these aircraft a unique capability to engage ground targets silently and stealthily.
Lockheed Martin confirmed yesterday that it had completed factory acceptance testing for the AHEL and then turned the weapon over to the Air Force. The laser will now need to be integrated together with a beam control system, after which ground testing will take place ahead of the installation of the complete weapon system onto an AC-130J.Read the rest of the article at the link.Even without the AHEL, the AC-130J has an expansive arsenal. This includes a 105-mm howitzer, as well as a smaller 30-mm GAU-23/A Bushmaster cannon. The aircraft can also carry a range of precision-guided munitions, including the AGM-114 Hellfire missile and the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), under their wings. The planes can employ smaller precision weapons, such as the GBU-44/B Viper Strike and GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition glide bombs, as well as the AGM-176 Griffin missile, via Common Launch Tubes (CLTs), too.
However, an operational high-energy laser weapon would be a valuable addition to these existing options, providing it works as advertised. A weapon of this kind could defeat a variety of different targets and do so in a way that opponents might not even know they're under attack until it's too late.